In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In doing so, UN Member States took an historic step in accelerating the Organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women. 

Responsibilities or duties

The purpose of this assignment is to provide support to the implementation and coordination of ongoing advocacy strategies under the ACT Programme. The role focuses on facilitating communication and collaboration among partner organizations, ensuring alignment of activities with the regional advocacy agenda, and supporting documentation, monitoring, and knowledge-sharing. The consultant will support enhanced efficiency, coherence, and impact of ongoing advocacy initiatives without duplicating existing strategic leadership provided by partner organizations.

Scope of Work:

The consultant will provide support in the following key areas:

• Strategic Coordination and Partnership Support
• Advocacy and Technical Support
• Strategic Communications and Visibility
• Monitoring, Results Documentation and Learning
• Knowledge Management and Feminist Movement Strengthening
• Convening and Stakeholder Engagement
• Capacity Strengthening and Partner Support

Qualifications or requirements

An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Gender Studies, Communications, Strategic Communications, International Relations, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Public Policy, Human Rights, or another related field is required. A first-level university degree in one of the above fields, in combination with two additional years of relevant professional experience, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience needed

Minimum of 2 years of progressively responsible professional experience in advocacy, strategic communications, programme coordination, knowledge management, stakeholder engagement, or other related areas is required. Experience working on gender equality, women’s rights, ending violence against women and girls, or feminist movement strengthening is required. Experience coordinating or supporting multi-stakeholder initiatives involving women’s rights organizations, civil society organizations, government institutions, regional bodies, development partners, or United Nations entities is required. Experience developing advocacy, communications, visibility, or knowledge products for different audiences is required. Experience organizing or supporting consultations, workshops, regional convenings, campaigns, or multi-partner engagements is required. Experience documenting programme results, advocacy outcomes, policy influence, lessons learned, or promising practices is required. Experience preparing programme reports, case studies, learning briefs, evidence summaries, or other analytical and knowledge products is required. Experience working with feminist movements, women’s rights organizations, or civil society networks in Africa, preferably in East and Southern Africa, is desirable. Experience supporting strategic communications, media engagement, digital communications, or programme visibility is desirable. Previous professional experience with the United Nations or another international development organization is desirable. Experience working with UN Women or on programmes addressing violence against women and girls is an asset.

• Facilitate regular coordination among ACT partners and broader EVAWG stakeholders, ensuring effective communication of updates, sharing of resources, alignment of activities, and identification of opportunities for collaboration across regional and country-level initiatives.
• Support strengthening partnerships among feminist movements, women's rights organizations, UN partners, regional institutions, and development partners.
• Coordinate follow-up actions arising from partner meetings, consultations, and regional convenings.
• Maintain stakeholder mapping and partnership engagement records to support coalition building, movement strengthening, and collective advocacy efforts.
• Support planning and implementation of regional and country-level advocacy initiatives aligned with ACT Programme priorities.
• Prepare advocacy briefs, talking points, presentations, stakeholder engagement materials, briefing notes, and background documents.
• Facilitate engagement with regional institutions, governments, civil society organizations, and development partners to advance ACT advocacy priorities.
• Support the development of outcome documents, advocacy messages, and high-visibility products highlighting programme results, lessons, and impact.
• Contribute to the identification of strategic opportunities to elevate feminist voices and strengthen regional advocacy and influence on policy implementation.
• Lead the development and implementation of ACT Programme communications and visibility plans.
• Produce high-quality communication products including stories of change, newsletters, blogs, feature articles, success stories, donor updates, social media content, and partner spotlights.
• Develop communication packages, key messages, and visibility materials for regional advocacy initiatives, campaigns, consultations, and high-level events.
• Support ACT Programme visibility during strategic advocacy moments, including regional and global campaigns and relevant policy engagement opportunities.
• Coordinate the dissemination of programme achievements, lessons learned, evidence, and knowledge products across internal and external communication platforms.
• Support media engagement and the preparation of communication materials for senior leadership and external stakeholders as required.
• Maintain ACT communications assets, visibility trackers, communication calendars, and repositories of stories, photographs, and audiovisual materials.
• Monitor and report on communication reach, engagement, and visibility outcomes.
• Track progress of advocacy, movement strengthening, communications, and coalition-building activities.
• Document outcomes, achievements, challenges, lessons learned, and promising practices emerging from ACT programme implementation.
• Consolidate reports, partner updates, and case studies for internal learning, donor reporting, and external communication purposes.
• Support outcome harvesting and documentation of advocacy influence, movement strengthening results, and contribution to policy and social change.
• Support partners in the development of knowledge products and evidence generation initiatives.
• Lead the development and documentation of country-specific ACT frameworks, including UN Women's approach to women's movement strengthening and feminist funding.
• Ensure ACT updates are reflected in monthly programme reporting, Communities of Practice, EVAWG regional meetings, and other relevant knowledge-sharing forums.
• Facilitate the exchange of lessons learned, good practices, feminist approaches, and evidence-based strategies among partners.
• Support regional learning exchanges, dialogues, and convenings aimed at strengthening feminist movements and collective advocacy efforts.
• Contribute to the development of knowledge products including case studies, learning briefs, guidance notes, evidence summaries, and advocacy resources.
• Support the planning and organization of ACT and broader EVAWG stakeholder consultations, webinars, regional dialogues, workshops, campaigns, and multi-partner engagements.
• Coordinate substantive and logistical preparations for strategic convenings and learning events.
• Prepare meeting reports, recommendations, action trackers, presentations, and dissemination materials.
• Support stakeholder engagement activities that strengthen programme visibility, influence, learning, and collaboration.
• Provide technical guidance to partners on coordination mechanisms, reporting requirements, information management, and knowledge-sharing processes.
• Support partners to strengthen advocacy planning, communications, documentation, learning, and reporting.
• Facilitate peer learning and exchange among ACT partners, feminist movements, and women's rights organizations.
• Contribute to strengthening partner capacities for evidence-informed advocacy, coalition building, strategic communications, and movement strengthening.

• Advocacy
• Strategic Communications
• Programme Coordination
• Knowledge Management
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Gender Equality
• Women's Rights
• Ending Violence Against Women and Girls
• Feminist Movement Strengthening
• Multi-stakeholder Initiatives
• Developing Advocacy Products
• Developing Communications Products
• Developing Visibility Products
• Developing Knowledge Products
• Organizing Consultations
• Organizing Workshops
• Organizing Regional Convenings
• Organizing Campaigns
• Organizing Multi-partner Engagements
• Documenting Programme Results
• Documenting Advocacy Outcomes
• Documenting Policy Influence
• Documenting Lessons Learned
• Documenting Promising Practices
• Preparing Programme Reports
• Preparing Case Studies
• Preparing Learning Briefs
• Preparing Evidence Summaries
• Preparing Analytical Products
• Preparing Knowledge Products
• Working with Feminist Movements
• Working with Women's Rights Organizations
• Working with Civil Society Networks
• Strategic Communications
• Media Engagement
• Digital Communications
• Programme Visibility

• An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Gender Studies, Communications, Strategic Communications, International Relations, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Public Policy, Human Rights, or another related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in one of the above fields, in combination with two additional years of relevant professional experience, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.